Tibetan Sword

dennee · 10th March 2008, 04:10 AM

Gav,

I was watching that too. But I wouldn't be too disappointed. In my opinion, it went for a high price. I would guess it's a mid-twentieth-century piece, and the photos don't show the quality of the blade.

Last summer, it belonged to a member of this forum. He pointed out, after some research, that the suspension piece is a lady's chatelaine (made in eastern Tibet, I suppose), i.e., it would have hung from a Tibetan lady's belt (inverted, as the loop around the belt now holds the scabbard) and from it would have hung perhaps a trousse or knife or keys, etc. There's a piece missing from the chatelaine, a sort of hinged ring from which the the items would have hung.

A few months ago, I ran a fragment of the inscription by some Tibetans (I didn't have photos of it in its entirety), and they thought that it is not a prayer but rather a Cultural Revolution-era slogan, perhaps "Long Live Chairman Mao's Thought!" Certainly interesting if not characteristically Tibetan; perhaps the only way the owner could keep a "feudal" weapon was a communist invocation.

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10th March 2008, 04:10 AM	#2
dennee Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: College Park, MD Posts: 186	Gav, I was watching that too. But I wouldn't be too disappointed. In my opinion, it went for a high price. I would guess it's a mid-twentieth-century piece, and the photos don't show the quality of the blade. Last summer, it belonged to a member of this forum. He pointed out, after some research, that the suspension piece is a lady's chatelaine (made in eastern Tibet, I suppose), i.e., it would have hung from a Tibetan lady's belt (inverted, as the loop around the belt now holds the scabbard) and from it would have hung perhaps a trousse or knife or keys, etc. There's a piece missing from the chatelaine, a sort of hinged ring from which the the items would have hung. A few months ago, I ran a fragment of the inscription by some Tibetans (I didn't have photos of it in its entirety), and they thought that it is not a prayer but rather a Cultural Revolution-era slogan, perhaps "Long Live Chairman Mao's Thought!" Certainly interesting if not characteristically Tibetan; perhaps the only way the owner could keep a "feudal" weapon was a communist invocation.